"Silent Bob" Isn't

So magnificent.  So loud.

My friend and boss, Laura Hamilton from The Portable Baby (theportablebaby.com), gave our family three chicks early this summer.  Her son's kindergarten class had hatched them and had enjoyed watching them grow until the chicks began to outgrow their little brooder.  Meanwhile, our flock had dwindled to 2 hens, so adopting  three more sounded perfect.  

I am sad to report that things did not go ideally for these three.  Chick number one, Zelda, got nabbed by a raccoon.  :-(  Chick number two, Ellie, suffered a crop malfunction and perished.  :-(  Chick number three, Hot Chick, turned out to be Not A Hen.  :-\  So much for upping the egg production around here.

As a chick grows and feathers out, there comes a day when you realize that your hen looks really tall for her age...and that the tail feathers are beginning to look especially jaunty....

And then you realize the dreadful truth: that there bird is A ROOSTER.  Darnit. I actually like roosters. I like this rooster.  But, anyone who has lived with them knows they can be difficult to live with.  For hubs, they're  intolerable.  Luckily, we have some friends not too far away that don't mind taking in roosters.  So we may soon be making the drive up the hill.

So soft.

 Once I realized we had a rooster, but before he had found his voice, I entertained the fantasy that he would be soft-spoken.  I knew it was just a matter of time, but I nevertheless gave him the moniker "Silent Bob," so we could all enjoy the irony.

He is a mighty fine rooster, and thus far not too ornery.  The kids adore him.  Tessa wants him to be the progenitor of our next chicks.  And look at that magnificent comb!  Great texture, Bob.

Will he stay or will he go?

T.B.D......

So long . .  . .